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Heathrow cancels flights because of fog Weather warnings issued for most of England
(about 7 hours later)
Dozens of flights have been cancelled at Heathrow airport because of thick fog. Weather warnings have been issued across most of England as forecasters predicted a second day of thick fog on Monday. Travellers were told to prepare for further flight cancellations at two of Britain’s busiest airports after a day of disruption on Sunday saw dozens of flights cancelled and delays at Britain’s busiest hub, Heathrow.
A spokeswoman for Britain’s busiest airport said the weather forced the cancellation of about 50 flights on Sunday. “We’ve had to cancel flights to keep up with the schedule. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines,” she said. According to the Met Office, dense fog was expected to become widespread across much of central and southern England overnight on Sunday, reducing visibility to less than 100 metres at times. Forecasters said that travel might be impacted by the poor visibility, and London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports both warned passengers to check with their airlines for news on disruptions to their flights, warning that they expected further problems throughout Monday morning.
The fog was expected to clear by 3pm and no further cancellations or delays were expected on Sunday, she added. The Met Office issued severe weather warnings across the southern regions of England, with the exception of the westernmost parts of Devon and all of Cornwall. The whole of the Midlands, East Anglia and the eastern areas of Wales, as well as large parts of Yorkshire and the Humber, the north-west of England and the southern tip of north-east England were also issued with yellow warnings, advising people to be aware.
Passenger Ed Drewett tweeted: “Stuck on the ground at Dublin due to fog at Heathrow. Gonna miss my flight to LA. Ooh I do love a drama.” The Met Office said it expected fog to “slowly lift and clear from many places through Monday”. There was no other disruption reported on the UK’s road or rail networks. There were no warnings for Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Another passenger tweeted: “So fog at Heathrow means cancelled flight and 1 extra night in sunny Palma. Thank you britishairways and Iberia for looking after us.” After disruption earlier in the day, Heathrow airport tweeted that flights would be operating past 11pm on Sunday. The airport is allowed to operate a limited number of nighttime flights each year.
The disruption at Heathrow comes on the last day of the school half-term holidays for much of the country. The fog had been expected to clear by 3pm on Sunday, with no further cancellations or delays expected at Heathrow. But the airport later revised that.
Paul Knightley, a weather forecaster at MeteoGroup, said: “There is fog and low cloud around from Essex to Devon, through parts of the West Midlands, up to Shropshire and Worcestershire and Merseyside. Passenger Ed Drewett tweeted: “Stuck on the ground at Dublin due to fog at Heathrow. Gonna miss my flight to LA. Ooh I do love a drama.” Another passenger tweeted: “So fog at Heathrow means cancelled flight and 1 extra night in sunny Palma. Thank you britishairways and Iberia for looking after us.”
“The thick fog is expected to return again tonight so Heathrow could be pretty foggy again tomorrow morning.” Sunday’s disruption at Heathrow came on the last day of the school half-term holidays for much of the country.